West Ham could have ‘£100m blackhole to fill’ as finance expert reveals full cost of relegation
West Ham are in a perilous position at the bottom of the Premier League, and the Hammers require a drastic upturn in form.
West Ham were hammered 3-0 by bottom-side Wolves on Sunday, in what was their most humiliating defeat of the season.
As a result, Nuno Espirito Santo has one game to save his job, and that comes against Nottingham Forest in a must-win clash at the London Stadium.
Nuno’s former club can pull seven points clear of the Irons with all three points, while a win for the hosts reduces the deficit to just one and gives them a fighting chance of achieving survival.
How much relegation would cost West Ham
In an attempt to escape dropping into the Championship, West Ham have already made two January signings, with Pablo joining from Gil Vicente and Taty Castellanos making the switch from Lazio.
The Hammers have now shelled out around £47million on new strikers, when defence is an even bigger problem for Nuno.
Nonetheless, everyone associated with the club will be hoping Pablo and Castellanos can inspire a surge up the table, otherwise, they may not recover from the financial devastation of relegation.
According to highly-regarded finance expert, Kieran Maguire, the total cost of relegation for West Ham is around £100m, making their showdown with Forest their biggest game in years.
“The costs of relegation to clubs of that stature are probably in the region of £100million,” Maguire told the Daily Mail.
“The club that finished bottom of the Premier League two years ago, the last set of data we have, got £111m.
“I think by the end of this season, we’ll be looking somewhere in the region of £120m from the television companies alone. That will drop to around £45m in the Championship. So that is already about £75m.”
Maguire then goes on to mention how relegated teams see a sharp drop in their commercial revenue. West Ham made £58m in commercial income in 2023/24, and they will only get a fifth of that money at most in the second tier.
“You add all those numbers together, and they have a £100m black hole they will have to fill,” he finished.
Who is likely to be sold by West Ham if they are relegated?
To cover all of the losses, the Hammers would need to sell some of their key first-team players, and one that would hurt the most is captain Jarrod Bowen.
Most Premier League goal involvements for West Ham in the competition’s history:
— Squawka (@Squawka) December 30, 2025
◎ 101 – Michail Antonio
◉ 101 – Jarrod Bowen
The record has been equalled. ⚒️ pic.twitter.com/7drBfVXkrt
The 29-year-old is far too good to be playing Championship football, so if they do suffer relegation, he is the first one they would look to sell.
Lucas Paqueta, who has been linked with an exit from West Ham in the past, is another who would be transfer-listed and surely snapped up by a Premier League team.
Again, Paqueta is a class above the Championship, and they would need to shift his wages quickly to avoid being plunged into financial ruin.
Mateus Fernandes, Soungoutou Magassa and Aaron Wan-Bissaka are three others who would surely push for a departure, along with January signings Pablo and Castellanos.
Stay up to date this winter with our West Ham transfer tracker. Click to see every done deal at the London Stadium, plus expert reaction from our team of writers.